The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Mounted at the highest point of ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands, a fisheye camera keeps a constant watch on the sky, looking out for bright fireballs – very bright meteors burning up in the atmosphere.
This is one of a network of more than a hundred specially-designed cameras stretching across Europe, called the Fireball Recovery and Planetary Inter Observation Network, FRIPON. This network gives scientists the ability to determine the trajectory of fireballs and calculate where they fall to guide recovery of any surviving debris.
To learn more about the expanding FRIPON network – and visit ESTEC’s neighbouring FRIPON camera at the Cyclops Observatory – watch this video, originally created as part of ESA’s joint, live webcast with ESO for Asteroid Day 2018.